Cuba's Fidel Castro, who defied US for 50 years, has died

[Kiwiken]

Rest in Peace Fidel Castro Líder de la Revolución cubana

Anyone who can wave the middle finger for 50+ years and still give his people free education and health.

The good with the bad.

His Trade mark Cuban Cigars he remarked when quitting them in 1985 "The best thing for Cuban Cigars is to give them to your enemies"

[sabaii69]

14 hours ago, kannot said:

and  forcing  others  to follow it  with  no  option but  death

I am from Florida and participted in the Cuba blockade. Pres. Kennedy may have been killed over mistakes made with Cuba. (Many errors). The streets of Florida are filled with joy at Castro's death and the stupid U.S. pres lowers the flags. Incredble ignorance.

[rooster59]

Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader of revolution, dies at 90 - BBC News

 

 

Fidel Castro dies aged 90

 

 

 

Nigel Farage reacts to the death of Fidel Castro

 

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

20 minutes ago, sabaii69 said:

I am from Florida and participted in the Cuba blockade. Pres. Kennedy may have been killed over mistakes made with Cuba. (Many errors). The streets of Florida are filled with joy at Castro's death and the stupid U.S. pres lowers the flags. Incredble ignorance.

 

It's not really surprising that Cuban exiles are happy!  The vast majority of the Cuban people in Cuba are most likely appreciative of Obama's tone and the advances made by the Obama Administration to help the people of Cuba, even if he could do a lot more to relax the crippling economic blockade.  God help us when it's President Trump.

[cumgranosalum]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Many Americans have been.  Not that hard to go there.  Legally or not.

 a very blinkered response - the fat is for decades Europeans have been visiting Cuba for holidays cultural reasons (my interest is music) and business - what they could achieve within sanctions.....we have bought  and imported paraphernalia into out home countries and continued both cultural and commercial dialogues with Cuba that the USA simply has not been able to do - in fact most Americans and many people posting on this thread seem unaware that although the US had a bizarre hatred of Cuba since the 60s this did not extend to the rest of the world.

Despite being a despot, many admired him solely for his resistance to US imperialism and that fact that despite all this superpower threw at him - including their almost comical attempts at assassination - he managed to resist to the end.

Edited November 27, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[Macthehat]

RIP Castro

" One of the great revolutionary leaders. While others exported war and death, Fidel exported doctors and teachers. It was his influence in Africa who dealt the fatal blow to Apartheid South Africa, the independence of Namibia and the defeat of fascist coup in Angola.
Cuba under Fidel went from a country of a small rich elite to one of equal status and access to education and healthcare, so much so the Cuban people have higher literacy and life expectancy than the so called rich nations.
All done while under a disgraceful US embargo.
Viva la Fidelista! Viva Cuba"

[i claudius]

In the 60s i had a picture of him on my wall ,thought he was great , oh the stupidity of youth .

[davidst01]

cuba is one of the safest places to travel. any cuban who does bad shit to a westerner has severe consequences. if only thailand could do the same

[toenail]

If Castro was so wonderful, why were thousands of Cubans willing to risk their lives & leave the island in the 60's & 70's? Ironically Castro overthrew a dictatorship & became one himself. 

[Shawn0000]

3 minutes ago, toenail said:

If Castro was so wonderful, why were thousands of Cubans willing to risk their lives & leave the island in the 60's & 70's? Ironically Castro overthrew a dictatorship & became one himself. 

 

Basically because Castro was not able to provide a thriving economy throughout US sanctions, they were being starved out while also being lured to America with cash incentives.

[adhd]

as this commie love got the people of cuba what ?

 

50 years of oppression !

 

mhhh, in what other countries did some army dude take over power "for the people"

[Shawn0000]

12 minutes ago, adhd said:

as this commie love got the people of cuba what ?

 

50 years of oppression !

 

mhhh, in what other countries did some army dude take over power "for the people"

 

Ever heard of George Washington?

[Thakkar]

 

Trump dancing on Castro's grave -- while cozying up to Putin, who credits Castro with building a "free and independent Cuba" . The Trump presidency is going to give me mental whiplash. 

 

T

[Thakkar]

Trump tweeted:

 

"Castro is dead!"

 

See? Trump is capable of compassion; he tweeted an entire sentence NOT about himself!

 

T

[Credo]

49 minutes ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

Basically because Castro was not able to provide a thriving economy throughout US sanctions, they were being starved out while also being lured to America with cash incentives.

 

Well, let's see I suppose it was the US fault that Russia also couldn't provide for it's people, East Germany couldn't provide for it's people, Vietnam couldn't provide for it's people and China couldn't provide for it's people.   If the US was responsible for the inability of these countries to get any significant economic growth, then the US is indeed an extremely powerful country.   

 

He had the support and ability to trade with many countries.   The point is communism doesn't work very well and communist dictatorships work even less well.   

 

 

[rijb]

1 hour ago, cumgranosalum said:

 a very blinkered response - the fat is for decades Europeans have been visiting Cuba for holidays cultural reasons (my interest is music) and business - what they could achieve within sanctions.....we have bought  and imported paraphernalia into out home countries and continued both cultural and commercial dialogues with Cuba that the USA simply has not been able to do - in fact most Americans and many people posting on this thread seem unaware that although the US had a bizarre hatred of Cuba since the 60s this did not extend to the rest of the world.

Despite being a despot, many admired him solely for his resistance to US imperialism and that fact that despite all this superpower threw at him - including their almost comical attempts at assassination - he managed to resist to the end.

 

Most of your posts seem to be more about jealousy/hate for the U.S. than admiration for Castro.

[Credo]

3 minutes ago, rijb said:

 

Most of your posts seem to be more about jealousy/hate for the U.S. than admiration for Castro.

I would say you nailed it with that one.   There are plenty with the same attitude.   

 

Hopefully, the Cuban people will get a chance at a better life, but I am not sure.   

[Harry2]

1 hour ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

Basically because Castro was not able to provide a thriving economy throughout US sanctions, they were being starved out while also being lured to America with cash incentives.

Castro could not provide a thriving economy because he destroyed it with reactionary socialism. The same socialism that has catastrophically failed right across the world in the last 100 years from Cuba, to the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, & North Korea - but of course socialists never learn & never challenge the fundamental flaws & failing in their inhuman reactionary belief system.

 

Castro was a tool for Soviet imperialism, spreading it via his mercenary troops in Ethiopia, Angola & Mozambique and bring chaos & mass murder to those troubled countries as he supported his fellow dictators.

[ftpjtm]

1 hour ago, cumgranosalum said:

 a very blinkered response - the fat is for decades Europeans have been visiting Cuba for holidays cultural reasons (my interest is music) and business - what they could achieve within sanctions.....we have bought  and imported paraphernalia into out home countries and continued both cultural and commercial dialogues with Cuba that the USA simply has not been able to do - in fact most Americans and many people posting on this thread seem unaware that although the US had a bizarre hatred of Cuba since the 60s this did not extend to the rest of the world.

Despite being a despot, many admired him solely for his resistance to US imperialism and that fact that despite all this superpower threw at him - including their almost comical attempts at assassination - he managed to resist to the end.

That could be because we've been on the receiving end of the flight out of Cuba by those who despised the oppression and poverty which were the by product of Castro's obsessive US phobia. 

[elgordo38]

19 hours ago, al007 said:

Around ten years ago, I spent a lot of time in Cuba on my own Yacht, in Hemingway Marina, I saw a lot of Cuba, travelling with locals and off the recognised trail

 

The medical system was good, and the people were some of the kindest in the world

 

Cuba would have been my choice to retire rather than Thailand, unfortunately because my Yacht had very sophisticated communication systems and sat phones I was suspected of spying, and made persona non grata

 

The education system is very good, unfortunately people were well educated, but then deneighed their expectations, and not allowed to leave Cuba, I often felt this was more cruel than leaving them as workers in the sugar cane fields without expectations

 

I loved Cuba and its people

 

You quote one example of cruelness in a multi cruel world. No system is perfect. One need only look to the Peoples Republic of China where MOST people are treated as a collective. Look at all the construction disaster there 72 and counting killed and what does the government say "We will improve our safety system" What a joke. They have the same elitist level as capitalist societies. These elitists travel the world looking for countries down on their luck and take advantage of them. They are now the universal carpetbaggers of the world. The actual people of China oh yeah bring in more warm bodies to fill the positions of the people that died in the accident progress? must continue. 

[cumgranosalum]

6 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

You quote one example of cruelness in a multi cruel world. No system is perfect. One need only look to the Peoples Republic of China where MOST people are treated as a collective. Look at all the construction disaster there 72 and counting killed and what does the government say "We will improve our safety system" What a joke. They have the same elitist level as capitalist societies. These elitists travel the world looking for countries down on their luck and take advantage of them. They are now the universal carpetbaggers of the world. The actual people of China oh yeah bring in more warm bodies to fill the positions of the people that died in the accident progress? must continue. 

the world according to elgordo?  I trifle myopic, don't you think?

[elgordo38]

11 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

Ah yes. Defiantly rejecting all overtures for reconciliation with the West, while brutally silencing all Cuban critics and subjecting Cubans to abject poverty. 

 

What a hero. Right up there with Kim Jong-Il, comrade. 

Sounds a lot like the USA over the years let me see half of South America, Iraq, Afganistan and the list has been endless over my lifetime. That is just outright wars then you have all the covert stuff. Clean thy own house before declaring someone else's dirty. Overtures from the West is that before or after the covert Bay of Pigs. Kind of hard to trust people that want to stab you in the back or push your island back to its "glory" days. 

[cumgranosalum]

59 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

That could be because we've been on the receiving end of the flight out of Cuba by those who despised the oppression and poverty which were the by product of Castro's obsessive US phobia. 

No the phobia was the USA's.

...and you seem to ignore the regime prior to Castro which was a violent and corrupt dictatorship.

Edited November 27, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[elgordo38]

2 minutes ago, cumgranosalum said:

the world according to elgordo?  I trifle myopic, don't you think?

No I follow the little news media that reports the truth. I must ask my Optometrist about the myopic part. Myopic in truth is what most governments and big business want you to be.Americans took a myopic look at political system and went with a guy that might in the end make Castro look like a true hero not the known exploiter P grabber that he really is. Yes America needs a Castro but definitely not a Donald Trump. 

[Shawn0000]

1 hour ago, Credo said:

 

Well, let's see I suppose it was the US fault that Russia also couldn't provide for it's people, East Germany couldn't provide for it's people, Vietnam couldn't provide for it's people and China couldn't provide for it's people.   If the US was responsible for the inability of these countries to get any significant economic growth, then the US is indeed an extremely powerful country.   

 

He had the support and ability to trade with many countries.   The point is communism doesn't work very well and communist dictatorships work even less well.   

 

 

 

There are over 1 billion people in world living in extreme poverty, almost all of them in capitalist regimes, by your overtly simplistic method of reckoning it is clear that capitalism does not work very well.

[Credo]

6 minutes ago, cumgranosalum said:

No the phobia was the USA's.

...and you seem to ignore the regime prior to Castro which was a violent and corrupt dictatorship.

Oh, you mean Batista.   I think he died along time ago, so I don't think the topic is about him.   

[Shawn0000]

1 hour ago, Harry2 said:

Castro could not provide a thriving economy because he destroyed it with reactionary socialism. The same socialism that has catastrophically failed right across the world in the last 100 years from Cuba, to the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, & North Korea - but of course socialists never learn & never challenge the fundamental flaws & failing in their inhuman reactionary belief system.

 

Castro was a tool for Soviet imperialism, spreading it via his mercenary troops in Ethiopia, Angola & Mozambique and bring chaos & mass murder to those troubled countries as he supported his fellow dictators.

 

Castro was honest about his failings, and of course socialists have learned from the mistakes of history, just look at the Nordic Model, the most thriving economies in Europe, the happiest people in the world and the most truly socialist regimes in the world.  But then I guess you are confusing communism with socialism, right?

 

Castro helped defend Ethiopia from the Somali invasion and they love him for it.

Angola was already experiencing a military intervention backed by the US, in what way are they not to blame for what preceded to happen in Angola?

Mozambique was already trying to overthrow their colonial masters when they received backing from Cuba and many others.  It would seem you have a problem with liberation if Cuba re the liberators, why is that?

 

[blazes]

One thing to remember is that it was vital for the US to not allow a successful socialist state succeed right on its doorstep.

Cuba ain't perfect, even with its many non-capitalistic achievements, but if the American people could catch a glimpse of a system (pinko-commie at that) that seemed to give the people what they wanted in the way of health and education, they might start to demand something similar in the good ol' USA.

Shock, horror, end of the world.

 

And all those Americans now staring massive increases in their Obamacare premiums must be wondering how the Cubans can have decent medical facilities at a fraction of the cost of the US health system.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Good! another thug and dictator,with no regard for human rights,who ran his people into poverty and starvation is dead. When Batista was slung out,they just swapped the names over.

 

[blazes]

Was it Kissinger who said of some S. American dictator,  "he may be a sonofabitch, but he's OUR sonofabitch."

 

The people here condemning Castro for jailing dissidents etc forget that more than 2 million Americans are in jail, many for flimsy reasons.    They also forget that the American military helped kill thousands and thousands of Chileans, Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, and propped up dictators in El Salvador, Honduras, Paraguay,, not to mention the Vietnamese who had to throw off the yoke of colonialism after 200 years of the French kind, until finally the Americans, 59,000 killed uselessly to contain "communism," slunk away from Saigon on April 30, 1975.

Go and re-watch movies like Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now for some insight into the madness that American imperialism left in its wake.  (And don't forget that "establishment" types like George W Bush and mr D  Trump managed to evade being shipped off to Vietnam to fight for those "capitalist" principles that many here hold so dear.)